Democrats, Including Lehigh County's Cunningham, Increase Pressure For Special Election.

Pennsylvania Democrats ... ... are stepping up their pressure on House Speaker Sam Smith to call a special election to fill six vacant House seats, including one in the Lehigh Valley.

On Friday, Philadelphia Mayor Mike Nutter, Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald sent Smith a letter urging him to fill the during the April 24 primary.

In the letter, the elected leaders, all Democrats, tell Smith that there are as many as 250,000 residents "unrepresented in the House of Representatives at this critical time," and as "leaders of the counties lacking full representation, we are writing to ask for the immediate scheduling of the special elections to fill those seats."

With the vacancies, Republicans have a 110-87 advantage in House. Several of the vacant seats would likely be filled by Democrats. One of them, in the Lehigh Valley-based 134th District, was most recently held by Republican Doug Reichley, who is now a Lehigh County judge.

This week, Republican Arlene Dabrow, 73, of Lower Macungie, joined a crowded race for Reichley's seat. She'll face four Republicans who previously announced their intentions: Rob Hamill, Dennis Nemes, Ryan Mackenzie and Wanda Mercado-Arroyo. Patrick Slattery was the lone Democrat to file for the seat.

Read the rest of the story after the gap.

The date of the special election was thrown into doubt when the state Supreme Court struck down a new map of state House and Senate districts approved by a five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

That action left 2001 legislative boundaries in place for the current election cycle. Smith and other Republicans unsuccessfully sued in federal court, claiming that the boundaries were unconstitutional. Democrats opposed those efforts.

The Reapportionment Commission is set to meet Wednesday to vote on a preliminary plan replacing the old maps. That vote will trigger a mandatory 30-day comment session. Any final map still has to be submitted to the state high court for its review.

This morning, Smith's spokesman, Steve Miskin, said the Jefferson County Republican is barred, by law, from calling a special election until new legislative boundaries are in place.

"Speaker Smith is mindful of the impact this situation has on citizens who live in these vacant districts and the potential financial impact it has on the counties who clearly would prefer to hold the specials on the same date as the primary," Miskin wrote in an e-mail. "These concerns are clear and valid, but the law is equally clear in that he does not have authority to issue a writ until a final plan has the force of law."

It is a foundation of our government, first enunciated over 235 years ago in Philadelphia: people deserve to be represented in our government. Unfortunately, there are as many as 250,000 Pennsylvania citizens unrepresented in the House of Representatives at this critical time. As leaders of the counties lacking full representation, we are writing to ask for the immediate scheduling of the special elections to fill those seats.

As you know, state law requires that a date for the special election be set within 10 days of a resignation except in years where these is a new legislative map. The special election is to be held within 60 days. With the federal court’s rejection of the appeal of the state Supreme Court’s decision invalidating newly drawn legislative districts, the maps are set. Respectfully, we believe it is time to schedule the special elections.

There are important practical as well as legislative reasons to set the special elections as soon as possible. First, you should not bifurcate the primary and the special elections. This will lead to added costs on our county budgets that are already burdened by the cuts in state funding.

Second, counties are to be provided a minimum of 60 days notice of the elections in order to facilitate smooth operation. Thus, in order for our respective counties to administer the special elections on April 24, the special elections need to be set no later than the end of the second week of February.

Third, our constituents deserve, and our counties need, full representation in Harrisburg especially during these difficult budget times. In the coming weeks, there will be decisions that will impact our communities and constituents. It is simply not right to have some citizens fully represented while others are not.

In closing, we understand that this redistricting process is unprecedented and has caused confusion within the respective caucuses. However, it is critical that the special elections be called as soon as possible and occur in conjunction with the Primary on April 24.

You should know that I ran in a special election on February 12, 2002. The election was called BEFORE the new maps were finally approved. Then the maps were approved, but I still ran in the old district.

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You should know that I ran in a special election on February 12, 2002. The election was called BEFORE the new maps were finally approved. Then the maps were approved, but I still ran in the old district.

The old district was much more Republican than the new one was going to be. In fact, I lost the special to a Republican named Wallis Brooks and then won the rematch in the new district in November.

The point is, Sam Smith, who was then in Republican House leadership, had no apparent problem with calling a special election in the old district before final approval of the new district, or conducting the special election in the old district.